T-Mobile’s new video channels: PlayGround TV and Urban Zone

Americans are spending more and more time watching video programming on the go. And T-Mobile is now looking to take advantage of that trend.

The Bellevue wireless carrier today introduced PlayGround TV — a channel with kids’ programming such as Curious George, Go Diego Go, Dora the Explorer, Cat in the Hat, Veggie Tales and Sesame Street. The service costs $4.99 per month for a standard version and $5.99 per month for a mobile HD version.

It also rolled out Urban Zone, a channel which features hip-hop and comedy shows such as Fat Albert, 4Urban Standup and Salacious Streets.

The new channels come as the appetite for mobile video programming accelerates. A study earlier this year from ABI Research noted that 390 million people are expected to access mobile video by 2016, while a report last year by The Nielsen Company found that the average user consumes four hours and 20 minutes of mobile video per month.

At T-Mobile, the mobile video trend is actually less with the company saying that subscribers to its T-Mobile TV services watch about 100 minutes per month.

“T-Mobile is keeping a keen eye on these trends, tailoring its offerings to match our customer’s needs and interests,” the company wrote in a blog post.

John Cook is GeekWire's co-founder and editor, a veteran reporter and the longest-serving journalist on the Pacific Northwest tech startup beat. Follow him @johnhcook and email john@geekwire.com.